Windsurf is gone.
More precisely, six months after Cognition AI acquired it for $250M in December 2025, they renamed it Devin Desktop. And this isn't just a name change.
It's not a rebrand — the editor just became the background
When this kind of news drops, most people shrug: "oh, they renamed it." But Devin Desktop is different.
Open it and you don't see a code editor. A Kanban board of running agents is the default screen. Devin Local running locally, Devin Cloud working autonomously in the cloud, Claude Agent or Codex connected via ACP from outside — all of them appear as cards in one view. What each is working on, where it's blocked, what's waiting for review — it's all there.
If Cursor and VS Code are "editors with AI bolted on," Devin Desktop flips that. The editor is still there, but it's closer to a viewer for agent output. Cognition's own framing: "an agent manager wrapped in a full IDE."
| Traditional AI IDE (Cursor, etc.) | Devin Desktop | |
|---|---|---|
| Default screen | Code editor | Agent Kanban board |
| AI's role | Editing assistant | Autonomous work executor |
| Multi-agent | Single AI assistant | Multiple agents, simultaneously |
| Context sharing | Agents isolated | PR & file sharing via Spaces |
| External agents | Limited | Any agent via ACP |
Ramp's engineer put it this way: "Devin Desktop makes it easy to dispatch and monitor our array of agents from a single command center." Harvey's Joey Wang added that custom background agents now extend context "to every engineer's laptop."
ACP: the LSP for AI coding agents
If you had to pick one change that matters most in this update, it's ACP — the Agent Client Protocol.
If you know what LSP (Language Server Protocol) is, you already understand ACP. LSP standardized how language servers talk to editors — so whether you're in VS Code or Neovim, you get the same language intelligence. ACP does the same thing between AI agents and editors.
Zed Industries created it in August 2025, and JetBrains, Google, and GitHub were early adopters. Now Devin Desktop is giving it its biggest endorsement yet. The protocol is Apache 2.0 open-source, and compatible agents include Claude Agent (Anthropic), Codex CLI (OpenAI), Gemini CLI (Google), Junie (JetBrains), and OpenCode.
Here's what that means in practice: inside Devin Desktop, you can run Claude Agent, Codex CLI, and OpenCode at the same time — each handling a different task. Through Spaces, they share context around the same PR and files.
ACP vs. MCP — they're different
MCP (Model Context Protocol) governs how agents talk to external tools (databases, files, APIs). ACP governs how editors talk to agents. Different layers, but they operate within the same handshake.
Still on Cascade? July 1 is your deadline
The most actionable change in Devin Desktop is Devin Local — a complete rewrite of Cascade, Windsurf's local AI coding agent.
It's been rewritten in Rust and Cognition claims up to 30% better token efficiency. It also supports subagents — parallel sub-sessions that Cascade simply couldn't do. Cascade operated with a single context; Devin Local runs multiple subagents concurrently on related tasks. Think of it as Devin's cloud architecture, now running locally.
Cascade migration deadline: July 1, 2026
Cascade stays available until July 1. After that, Devin Local is the only local agent. If you have workflows that explicitly invoke Cascade, update them now.
How to get started with Devin Desktop right now
- Existing Windsurf users
Nothing to do. It arrives as an over-the-air update. Your plan, pricing, extensions, and settings carry over automatically. - New users: download it
Get the macOS app at devin.ai/download. Free plan starts at $0, Pro at $20/month, Max at $200/month. - Migrate to Devin Local (current users, required)
In settings, switch from Cascade to Devin Local as your default local agent. Do this before July 1. - Connect ACP agents
In the Agent Command Center, hit "Add Agent" and choose an ACP-compatible agent (Claude Agent, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, etc.). Full setup at docs.devin.ai/desktop/acp. - Organize with Spaces
Group related PRs, files, and agent sessions into a Space to share context. Multiple agents can work different tasks on the same branch simultaneously.
Want to go deeper?
Windsurf is Now Devin Desktop — Official Announcement Cognition's blog post covering the Agent Command Center, ACP, and Devin Local in full. devin.ai
Agent Client Protocol Documentation Technical docs for implementing ACP in your own editor or agent. Includes supported agent list and setup instructions. docs.devin.ai
Cognition's Acquisition of Windsurf Scott Wu's strategic rationale for the Windsurf acquisition in his own words. cognition.com
Windsurf Is Now Devin Desktop: What Actually Changed Practical analysis of the Cascade → Devin Local migration and ACP in real workflows. byteiota.com
Windsurf Is Now Devin Desktop: Builder Guide Step-by-step guide for current Windsurf users on migration and getting started. chatforest.com
Cognition's $250M Windsurf Acquisition: SWE-1.5, Codemaps, and the New AI IDE Stack Deep-dive on the acquisition context and Cognition's product roadmap. nxcode.io
